These are the kinds of technological advancements that we can expect in 2013, according to movers and shakers in the tech industry.Big Brother really is watching: And you're letting him

Internet connected devices first outnumbered humans between 2008 and 2009 but in 2013 we should expect the creation of a network of more than a billion "security" cameras, according to futurist and CEO of the Da Vinci Institute, Dr Thomas Frey.

Security camerasSource:Leader

People may not monitor the cameras all the time but they would allow users to pull up data on a per-needed basis, but Dr Frey says that this network may come at the cost of privacy.

"As we move forward it seems entirely likely that we could have 100 million people put 10 cameras in their houses," Dr Frey said. "That's one billion cameras. That's when you run into all sorts of privacy issues.

"You might have the problem of voyueristic people sticking them in girls' locker rooms and things like that." Flying drone cameras means there's nowhere to hide

And if cameras in your house seem like overkill, try having a floating drone camera the size of your fist tracking your every move.

Dr Frey says to expect it in 2013.

"Last week at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas) they were demonstrating flying little spherical drones the size of your fist floating about head height that watches you and goes with you wherever you go,” he said.

The technology - which Dr Frey says is "right on the edge" of exploding into the market - could have all sorts of security benefits for celebrities, and politicians, providing extra security and constant surveillance.

This technology will come in handy, particularly in areas of civil conflict like the Middle East because politicians will have no place to hide, the futurist said.

But like everything, the cameras could also be abused, and could be used instead to spy on, or blackmail people.

"This technology gets created with all the right intentions and people can see the possibilities it offers for society but then someone else figures out ways to make lots of money doing just the opposite and that's where we run into problems," he said.

Dr Frey said that governments would need to consider introducing legislation to ensure the technology isn't abused.

"As an example, with the Apple iPhone, on the old assembly line at Foxconn in China, it requires 24 people to touch the product from start to finish on a manufacturing line. On the new automated manufacturing lines in Brazil, there are only two people touching it from start to finish so you can imagine the amount of labour savings 3D printing would provide," he said.

Researchers are already working on food printers, and Dr Frey says it won't be long before you send your significant other out to the shops to buy a food cartridge because you need to print a fancy gourmet dinner.

"One example that I use is if you think about all the apples from an apple tree in an orchard, a lot get bruised and damaged and never make it on to shelves. But if you take the same stock and print it, you can print a perfect apple every time," he said. "If you want it to taste like almonds or add extra vitamin c, you could do that too. In the not too distance future we'll have processers that can print the can and print the soup that goes in it."

"Once we're able to print things like this, that can be done anywhere we can eliminate lots of shipping that occurs, rather than manufacturing something in China and shipping it to Australia, or the US or Europe, you can print it where you're at. This can have a profound effect on countries like China that are doing all the manufacturing.”

2013: The year the robots take over

Dr Frey also said 2013 would be the year where doctors will begin to be replaced by robots.

Star wars doctorSource:Supplied

The futurist says there is a "grey tsunami" coming, meaning that soon existing health care systems will not be able to care for the ever growing aging population.

Researchers are already developing robotic diagnosis systems that use sensors to identify health problems. Dr Frey said these systems offer instant treatment recommendations customised entirely on the patients' physical symptoms and that the next logical step would be for pharmacists to work with these systems - essentially allowing the robots to write out a script for necessary medication - cutting out the need for GPs almost entirely.

"I would welcome processes that eliminate the need for doctors," Dr Frey said. "We bottle-neck things around doctors and it's not a good way of doing things."

All these new technologies may eliminate a lot of jobs as they automate processes usually performed by humans but Dr Frey says that studies show that for every job that gets eliminated by automation, another 2.6 jobs are created by start-up companies. Telco rage: It's going to be a hellish year

This year is not going to be all fun and games - especially if you work for a telco.

telco rageSource:Supplied

Richard Giles, Australian strategy director for app development company Adapptor, told News.com.au that "a lot more people are going to swear at their telco in 2013”, as companies like Optus and Telstra struggle to keep up with the demand for mobile data due to the massive influx of smarter, internet connected devices.

"Mobile networks and internet providers are going to struggle even more to keep up with us and how connected we really want to be," Mr Giles said.

As for social media, Mr Giles says that online faux pas are only going to get worse. "A lot more people are going to end up in the news saying sillier things," he said. "Social media allows us to wedge our foot a lot further into our mouth, far quicker, with far fewer characters."